Your Guardin
by Imagine Queen Love
Summary: My first fanfic! Knuckles finds an injured echidna girl named Tikal. But when he brings her to a friend to help her, an unexpected event happens.


_Hey everybody :)_

_It's me "Gypsy"!_

_Here is my very first fanfic, I really hope you all like it._

_Don't forget to click that lovely 'review' button at the bottom of the screen ~! 3_

_Anyway, it's time to begin! Enjoy!_

It was another average day on Angel Island. The Master Emerald was safe and sound under the watchful eye of its guardian, Knuckles the echidna. There haven't been any attacks or threats to the Master Emerald for several days.

It was the same that day; Knuckles didn't have much to do. Knowing the Master Emerald would be safe, he decided to take a walk. He enjoyed the scenery of his home and watched the wildlife that lived on the island. Just then Knuckles heard an unfamiliar animal cry. It didn't even sound animal; it was more of a creature sound.

Knuckles looked to his side to find three small chao flying off in one direction. Just then, another chao flew over his shoulder following the other three.

Knuckles gave a puzzled look, "Weird. I never see any chao on this island. Where did they come from?"

Knuckles felt a tug on his leg and looked down to find yet another chao pulling it. The chao tried to pull his leg forward and pointed towards the direction the other chao had went.

"Do you want me follow you little guy?"

The chao made a noise of agreement and flew off to the other chao as Knuckles followed it.

After a short walk, Knuckles saw the five chao gathered around a body. He went to check the body. It was an auburn colored echidna wearing a white dress with a light desings and white strap sandals. He looked closer at the body and found many bruises.

"I see. So she is your owner and you need me to help her. Is that right?"

All the chao nodded their heads. Very carefully, he picked the echidna up and cradled her in his arms.

"Follow me, I'll help her."

The chao willingly agreed and followed Knuckles as he carried the echidna to the Master Emerald shrine.

Once there, he set her down and lightly splashed some water on her face, hoping to wake her up. She let out a small groan and batted hers eyes open. The chao all grew joyful and snuggled to her.

A smile quickly grew on her face, "Thank goodness you're all safe"

"Are you okay miss?"

She casted her attention to the red echidna sitting in front of her, "Oh, I'm just fine." She started to look around frantically. "Where am I?"

"You're on Angel Island. What happened to you?"

She scratched her head in puzzlement, "I'm not so sure. All I remember is I was walking with my chao and…I was attacked by someone. I don't remember who though, it was all over so quick."

"I see. Well, whoever attacked you really left you banged up." He observed the many bruises covering her arms. "I think I know who can help."

"Who?"

Knuckles didn't answer; instead, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a close friend's number.

_Hello?_

"Hey Tails."

_Oh, hey Knux! What's up?_

"Do you think you can come to Angel Island real quick?"

_How come?_

"I found this other echidna while on a walk. She's pretty banged up and I need to take her to Vanilla."

_Okay! I'll come over as soon as possible. Bye!_

"Thanks Tails see ya," He hanged up and looked back to the auburn echidna, "My friend will be here soon. Then we'll get you fixed up."

"I really do appreciate you for helping me…I'm sorry, I'm afraid I didn't get your name yet."

"Oh, well that's partially my fault for not introducing myself. I'm Knuckles the echidna, guardian of the Master Emerald."

"Truly a pleasure to officially meet you. I'm Tikal."

The two echidnas spent the next several minutes getting to know each other. Tails soon arrived on the x-tornado, landing on the alter close to them.

"Hello!" Tails said in his common energetic voice.

"Hey. Tails, this is Tikal. She's the injured echidna I told you about."

"Hi." Tikal said in a shy tone.

"Nice to meet you. So you need me to take you two to Vanilla?"

Knuckles nod his head.

"Oh, pardon me for asking, but who is this Vanilla person?" Tikal asked out of curiosity.

"She's the mother of a close friend of ours," Knuckles explained, "She's had some experience dealing with injuries so she'll be able to help you."

"Exactly! Hop inside and I'll have us there quick!"

Knuckles climbed into the passenger seat and helped Tikal up and situated her next to him. Her five chao fluttered up and snuggled into her lap, safe and secure.

"Here we go!" Tails started the x-tornado and it soon flew off into the sky, heading to their next destination.

At Cream's house…

Vanilla relaxed on the porch outside of the house, watching Cream and Cheese as they played on the grass, enjoying some treats made by Vanilla. As Cream looked up into the sky, she saw the x-tornado flying towards them.

"Mommy look, I think I see Tails coming!"

As Vanilla saw the x-tornado, she stood up and walked to Cream who was now standing up, holding Cheese in her arms. The x-tornado came down gracefully and landed on the grass in front of them.

"Hi Vanilla, hi Cream, hi Cheese!" Tails said waving contently at them.

"Hello Tails, Mr. Knuckles! Who is your new friend?" Cream asked as she noticed the auburn echidna sitting next to Knuckles.

"This is Tikal, and she is my new friend."

'He already considers me as his friend? Wow' she thought for a short moment. "Hello," Tikal said casually as she stepped out of the x-tornado with her chao following.

Once Cheese saw the other chao, he grew very jovial and exited to see more of his kind.

"Chao, chao, chao!" Cheese said in a very happy tone.

"Look mommy, Ms. Tikal has chao too!" She said once she saw the chao.

"Oh, isn't that nice? We don't see many chao often."

"Now Cheese has so many friends!"

Vanilla let out a small smile and a laugh before asking, "So what brings you three here?"

Knuckles moved to Tikal's side, "I actually have a request for you Vanilla. Tikal said she was attacked by someone and she's kinda banged up. Do you think you can help deal with these bruises?"

"It would be my pleasure. Follow me." Vanilla turned around and Cream, Cheese, Tails, Knuckles, Tikal and the other five chao followed her into the house.

Once inside, Vanilla said to Tikal, "You can sit down on the couch," before going into a different room and returning, carrying a first aid kit.

"How do you know so much about this Vanilla?" Tikal asked out of curiosity.

"Being a mother has given me practice at handling injuries," She said as she sat down next to her.

"Whenever I get hurt, mommy always knows what to do to make me feel better!" Cream said in a cheerful tone before giving her mother a hug.

"Cream sweetie, would you like to play outside with Cheese and the other chao while I make Tikal feel better?"

"Uh-hu!" She looks to Tikal, "Can Cheese and I play with your chao Ms. Tikal?"

"Of course you can," She looks to her chao, "Please be very nice to Cheese and be careful okay?" The chao nod their heads, "You can play now."

The five chao gathered around Cheese. All six chao were filled with happiness and excitement. Eager to play, they quickly walked out of the house.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Cream shouted as she rushed after them.

"Okay, now to tend to your injuries Tikal."

Vanilla opened the first aid kit. She first cleaned her wounds, then rubbed a medicated cream on them, and finally started to wrap bandages around them.

"Tikal," Knuckles said suddenly, "are you sure you don't remember who attacked you?"

Her face grew sad, "I'm sorry. I just don't remember. Like I said when we first met, it happened so fast, I didn't get a chance to see their face."

"I truly feel sorry for you dear." Vanilla finished wrapping the bandages. "There, you'll be fine now."

"Thank you Vanilla." Tikal now had a gleaming smile on her face.

Knuckles felt a strong glee in him knowing that Tikal was now in a better condition than when he first met her. But he had an unknown feeling deep inside him that he couldn't explain. He has been incredible committed to her safety; he's wanted to make sure she was fine. But he can't remember having a promise like this to any of his friends. And seeing her smile was unexplainable.

'I don't get it…why do I feel like this? I don't think I've been through this with any of the girls I know. But who Tikal is…the way she talks…and she is incredibly beautiful. Am I really…man; I really need to stop thinking this. Even if I did, she would never feel the same way…it's not possible…'

Coming out of his thoughts, Knuckles had a sudden smile on his face, "It's nice to know that you're feeling better now."

"Well who knows what would've happened to me if you didn't come," She wraps her arms around his neck and snuggled her head into his neck, "I'm so lucky I met you Knuckles."

Knuckles was completely taken by surprise and felt his body heat up. A deep blush formed on his face, he never reacted this way, especially to the touch of a girl. His instincts took over and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tighter into the hug.

"Tikal…"

She looks up to his face, "Yes Knuckles?"

"You might hate me for this, and I know we've only known each other for a short time, but I…"

Just then a powerful shockwave hit. It shook the house and made Vanilla stumble.

"What was that?"

"AHHH! MOMMY, COME QUICK!"

"Oh my goodness, Cream!" Vanilla ran out of the house.

"Come on!" Knuckles grabbed Tikal's hand and the two followed Vanilla outside the house.

"Cream!" Vanilla called to her.

"Mommy!" Cream runs to her and jumps into her arms, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm alright. But look!" She points on front of her.

In front of the yard was a very large, round robot. The legs were short but enormous. The hands had several long spikes on the knuckles of them. The body was round and included the head. The design of the robot was very familiar, and as the top opened, it revealed a well known villain.

"Well, it's nice to see you again knucklehead!"

"Dr. Eggman?"

As Tikal saw Eggman, something shot through her. The memory of the incident, her attack, became clear. It was vivid. Though it was short, it was understandable. She now knew.

"Knuckles, that's him! Now I remember! He is the one who attacked me!"

"What?" He looked at her in confusion, and then turned to Eggman with rage building in his eyes, "Is this true? Did you really hurt her?"

"Ho-ho! It's about time you finally caught up knucklehead!"

Anger and rage shot through his body and his fist clenched with tremendous force, "You rotten! Why would you do that to her?"

"Simple, she has something I want."

Tikal considered for a moment what she could have that would be valuable, her first thought made her scared, "You don't mean my chao do you?"

Eggman let out a scoff, "No! I could never get anywhere with my plans using those useless creatures."

Cream became very upset and shouted, "Chao are not useless you big meanie!"

"Be quiet you pesky little rabbit!" He shouted to Cream before returning his attention to Tikal, "Anyway what I really want from you is that jewel of yours."

Knuckles looked back to Tikal puzzled, "What jewel is he talking about Tikal?"

Tikal thought for a moment and remembered. She reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a sparkling blue emerald. Knuckles immediately recognized it.

"T-Tikal, do you have any idea what that is?"

"I know that it's an emerald. What's wrong?"

"Tikal, that's a chaos emerald!"

"Ms. Tikal has a chaos emerald?" Cream asked tilting her head to the side.

"Precisely," Eggman answered, "The chaos emeralds power is just what I need for my latest invention. Now, let's make this nice and easy, and hand over the chaos emerald!"

"NO!" She shouted bringing the chaos emerald close to her chest, "I won't let you have it!"

"So be it. I guess I'll just have to…take it from you!" With that the Death Egg launched one of its spiked hands at her.

"Tikal!" Knuckles quickly picked her up and moved her out of the way of the strike.

"Darn knucklehead, hold still!"

The Death Egg continuously launched its spiked hands, but Knuckles managed to doge each strike. Cream, Vanilla and Cheese stood against the house, watching the fight and praying the two echidnas would be safe.

"It's time I get you out of the way knucklehead. Attack!" Eggman then summoned a swarm of badnits.

Knuckles saw the large number of badnits and knew he wouldn't be able to dodge all of them. He had no choice. He set Tikal back on her feet and whispered into her ear, "Stay safe," before charging to them.

Knuckles fast reactions and powerful blows were more than a match for the badnits. But their increasing numbers kept him well focused.

Tikal didn't know it, but at that moment, she was vulnerable.

"Well then," Eggman said grabbing Tikal's attention, "Now that the knucklehead is out of the way, its time I get the chaos emerald!"

The Death Egg launched its spiked hand at her, but she managed to dodge. As it continued to strike, she managed to keep dodging. But it was starting to get closer to hitting her. One strike practically brushed her back and the impact sends Tikal to the ground. Miraculously, she was still holding onto the chaos emerald.

"I'll say this once more, hand over the chaos emerald!"

"No!" She snuggled her chaos emerald so close to her chest, it was impossible for someone to grab.

"Fine then," He paused, "However, I'd hate to do all this hard work and leave with nothing. So…it's either the chaos emerald or your life! And since you refuse to hand it over…"

"Knuckles!"

"Tikal!" He desperately wanted to run to her, pick her up and save her from harm. To tell her everything will be okay. But the swarm of badnits surrounded him and prevented him from moving. He couldn't get them fast enough.

"…I'll get you out of the way!" The Death Egg prepared to strike.

Tikal tensed up in every fiber of her body, her thoughts went completely out of control and her thoughts continuously chanted 'Knuckles, please save me'

Just when the Death Egg was about to strike, it received a mysterious blow that sent it tumbling back. Eggman looked out to see someone he didn't want to see.

"Tsk tsk, you don't ever learn do you?"

"Sonic?"

The blue blur looked over to see Knuckles predicament. Quick as lightning, he made a tornado formation around Knuckles, defeating all the badnits.

"Thanks Sonic."

The blue blur halted to a stop. "Don't mention it. But right now, we have a bigger problem to deal with.

Eggman grew furious, "You stubborn little hedgehog! I'll make you pay for interrupting my plans!" The Death Egg prepared to strike.

"Knux, you go get your friend. I'll handle Egghead."

Knuckles gave a nod.

The Death Egg launched but missed Sonic. The blue blur continued to run around as Eggman continued to strike but miss.

With Eggman distracted, Knuckles ran to Tikal and cradled her in his arms.

"Are you okay?" He asked gently.

"I'm fine." 'So much better now. Thank you for saving me'

He carried her back to Vanilla and Cream and sets her back on her feet.

"Stay here with Vanilla and Cream. I'll teach Eggman a lesson for hurting you." Letting instincts take over again, he gently kissed her forehead.

"Uh…o-okay. Be careful." Her face felt hot and her checks developed a deep blush.

"Go get him Mr. Knuckles! Teach Dr. Eggman not to be such a meanie pants!"

Knuckles let out a small laugh, "Don't worry Cream, I will."

Looking back at the situation, he saw Sonic still easily dodging the attacks of the Death Egg. As it charged to shoot a blast at the blue blur, Knuckles quickly ran gave it a devastating blow. It was so powerful it went right through the body of the robot. Its power and controls short circuited and started to shut down. The Death Egg shut down and fell onto its back, now a useless piece of metal.

"Nice move there Knuckles!" Sonic said giving Knuckles a 'nice job' thumbs up.

"It was nothing." Knuckles lied. He knew he could never pull something off like that. Especially in one blow.

"That was really amazing Knuckles!" Tikal shouted from a distance.

Hearing Tikal say this made Knuckles feel really…powerful. He wanted to thank her, but his words were lodged in the back of his throat. As a blush formed on him, he couldn't help but give a smile and a wink to Tikal.

Sonic watched the behavior between Knuckles and the girl Tikal. 'Weird…when did he meet her? If he knew her for a long time, then he's sneakier than I thought! But if he just met her…then that guys crushing big time!' His last thought made him let out a quiet chuckle.

The top covering the head of the destroyed Death Egg and Eggman fell out of it, boiling with anger and rage. He couldn't stand defeat. He reached into the hull where he was sitting and pulled out a laser gun.

"I refuse to be defeated by a common knucklehead!" He pointed his gun to Knuckles.

Seeing that Eggman was going to attack, Cream acted immediately on her instincts. "Cheese get him!" Cheese curled into a small ball and Cream threw him to Eggman, the chao hit his face and forced Eggman to stumble back.

"You wretched little thing! Let go of me!" Eggman attempted to pull Cheese of his face, but the chao took a vigorous grip onto his mustache, causing pain whenever he tried to pull.

Eggman continued to try to pull of Cheese, ignoring the pain from his mustache. As he grew more upset, Cheese was starting to grow loose of his grip. He didn't know how much longer he could hold on.

Tikal's five chao saw Cheese struggling to hold onto Eggman and instinctively rush and attacked Eggman. They had to help their friend. Eggman couldn't stand up to all the chao. He toppled and wobbled and tried to pull them off, but was having no luck. He dropped his laser gun, freeing his other hand, and continued to try to remove the chao. Still having no luck.

Noticing that his laser gun was on the ground, Knuckles approached it and pounded his fist down hard, demolishing it. As Eggman came close to Sonic, the blue blur let his foot out, tripping him and making him fall to the ground. Sonic gave the chao a nod and they released Eggman.

"I guess chao aren't so useless, huh Egghead?" Sonic said tilting his head.

Eggman let out a nervous laugh, "What's say I let you guys off easy and we call this a draw?"

The red echidna and blue blur stared down at him for a moment.

"I'd say…" Knuckles started, "Eggman here deserves the rare double. Don't you think so Sonic?"

"I couldn't agree more. I'll go this way…" Sonic pointed to his right.

"And I'll go that way." Knuckles pointed to his left.

The two nod and gave a simultaneous blow to Eggman, sending him off like a rocket into the atmosphere.

Sonic let out a content sigh, "That never gets old."

Cream, Vanilla and Tikal started to run to them.

"Mr. Sonic, Mr. Knuckles, you did it!" Cream stated in a cheerful tone.

Tikal embraced Knuckles in a tight hug, "I'm so glad you're safe Knuckles. I can't thank you enough."

Knuckles wrapped one of his arms around her waist and tangled the other in her quills. "Don't worry. I'm glad you're okay Tikal, I don't want anything to happen to you." His words made her blush. He then casted his attention to Sonic. "By the way, how did you know that Eggman was here?"

"Well let's just say I had a little guidance."

Just then, Tails came down in the x-tornado.

"Tails?" Cream asked, "But how?"

"Well, when Vanilla was tending to Tikal's wounds, I left to take a joy flight. But I saw Eggman go by while flying. It looked like he was coming here. I went to go get help and I found Sonic on one of his exercise runs. I told him everything that happened so far and he said he'd be happy to teach Eggman a lesson. Once we got here, we saw that Eggman was about to crush Tikal. Sonic acted on his instinct and launched himself at the robot. I turned away so he wouldn't see me. After he was gone, I came back here and, well, that's it."

"Thank goodness you did," Vanilla said, "Who knows what would have happened if you didn't."

Knuckles thought about it, and the thought made him tighten his arms around her. 'I can't let her die' "Thanks Sonic, thanks for the help."

"Don't worry, it's what I do."

"It was amazing! I knew you could do it Mr. Sonic; you have defeated Dr. Eggman so many times before. Also, you showed that meanie that chao are strong!"

"Chao chao Sonic!" Cheese said in a happy tone before fluttering out of Creams hands and snuggling into Sonics quills.

"Aww thanks Cheese." He grabbed Cheese and gave in a soft pet before handing him back to Cream. "Well, I should get going now. See ya!" He built up speed and was off in a supersonic second.

"Mr. Sonic is really fast. He is always running, looking for his next adventure!"

"He seems very enthusiastic," Tikal confessed.

Knuckles looked to Tikal and started to caress her check. He then spoke to Tails without looking away. "Hey Tails, can you take us back to Angel Island?"

"Sure, hop in!"

Knuckles cradled Tikal in his arms and proceeded to carry her into the x-tornado. As he sat her on his lap, Cream flew up next to her.

"Ms. Tikal, do you promise me that you and your chao can come over again? I would really be happy if you came over for a chao play date?"

"Of course. I'll make sure we come to visit."

Cream couldn't help but give a twirl from excitement, "Now Cheese will be able to his friends again!" She gives Cheese a small snuggle.

Tikal smiled and said to her chao, "Say bye now."

Her five chao waved 'goodbye' to Cheese and he waved back. They then rested on Tikal's lap.

"All set! Bye!" Tails said before taking off into the sky. Cream, Vanilla and Cheese watched and waved at them as they took off into the distance.

On Angel Island…

The trio quickly started to approach Angel Island.

As they grew close, Tails looked back to Knuckles and asked, "Are you ready for me to land?"

A new idea came in his mind, "Actually can you just bring us over the alter?"

Tails didn't know why he wanted them to fly their instead of landing, but he reluctantly agreed. Tikal was also left in a dazed wonder as well.

Once they were over the alter, Knuckles quickly swaddled Tikal and her five chao in his arms and jumped out the side. Tikal closed her eyes tight and tensed herself for the landing. She felt an instant blast of relief as she opened her eyes and saw Knuckles land safely on his feet.

"Bye!" Tails shouted at them before making a u-turn and flying off into the horizon.

Knuckles released Tikal's chao and set her back on her feet, still holding onto her arms.

"I really appreciate everything you've done for me Knuckles. I feel so much better now."

"I'm really glad…Tikal, I've been meaning to ask you, what are you going to do now?"

Her face became puzzled, "I'm not so sure. I've been with you and your friends all this time, all I really wanted was to spend as much time with you as possible. I feel very safe when around you Knuckles."

Another idea came to his mind. Even though he was reluctant and shy to do it, he asked her, "Tikal…h-how would you like to s-stay here on Angel Island with m-me?"

She thought about it for a short moment then her face brightened up, "I would love to," She hugged him tight around his neck, "I can't ask for a better friend than you."

Taken by surprise of her sudden embrace, he stood in shock for a second before hugging her around her waist and nuzzling her into his neck. He felt every part of her body against his, she was warm and soft. The unknown emotion he felt was growing stronger from this kind of physical contact. Knuckles decided that he had enough.

Just as Tikal looked into his eyes, his instincts took over and he kissed her. She froze up almost at once. She couldn't believe that this was happening, that her best and dearest friend was kissing her. But then the sensation of it became overwhelming and she started to enjoy this. She kissed him back, her arms tightening around his neck, as he moved one of his hands to her quills and brought her tight against him. He continued to kiss her, for what seemed like minutes, before pulling away. He looked at her, her eyes were still in shock and she was breathing a little heavy.

"K-Knuckles…" She said under her heavy breath.

Tikal…before you say anything, I need you to hear me out."

She nods her head and he took a deep breath.

"Tikal, I can't explain it but I feel a very strong connection to you. It's like I can't let you out of my sight. That I just have to keep you safe, to hold you, to tell you that nothing is going to happen to you. And it's only taken a short time for me to notice this Tikal. I love you and always will be in love with you."

Tikal couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her best friend had just expressed his feelings for her, in her opinion, in the sweetest way possible. It took a short moment for her to prosper the event that just happened, but she had something to say.

"Knuckles, I-I…um, I…I love you too. I love you."

Knuckles thought his ears were deceiving him, "My dearest Tikal…please say that again."

"I love you Knuckles. Please promise me you won't leave me, and that I can always count on you."

"Promise."

He brought his mouth back to hers in a deep passionate kiss. Tikal truly loved this feeling, his body was warm and she really enjoyed this kissing thing. She felt safe in his arms, constricted around her body.

Once they pulled away, Tikal's five chao started to hug Knuckles: one on each of his legs, another on his arm, another on his chest and one in his quills. They were happy that their master had found love, and they wanted to appreciate and embrace her love. They really liked this kind red echidna.

"They seem to love you as much as I do."

Knuckles let out a small laugh, "Tikal?"

"Yes Knuckles?"

"I've been the guardian of the Master Emerald for as long as I can remember. And, for a while, I thought that was going to be the only thing I ever protect. But now I'm wrong. As of now, I am also your guardian." He pulled her into a warm and soft hug.

Tikal embraced him. She truly felt it. She truly felt safe in the arms of…her guardian.

_The End!_

_I hope you all enjoyed my story._

_Again, this is my first one so please no rude remarks._

_Don't forget to press that cute little 'review' button!_

_Until my next fanfic, bye from "Gypsy"! 3_


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